Hundreds of thousands have flooded the streets of Chechen capital of Grozny in a rally against the publication of the Prophet Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo magazine. The demo, dubbed “Love to Prophet Mohammed,” was organized by region’s clerics.

About 1 million people,
residents of Chechnya and other Russian Caucasus republics,
gathered for the rally, the Interior Ministry press service
said.Orthodox
priests, mostly from the neighboring republics, have also arrived
for the demonstration.

Thousands of balloons were sent into the air at the beginning of
the rally.

The protesters were carrying banners, saying “We love Prophet
Mohammed,” “No to Mohammed cartoons,” “Islam is a religion of
peace and creation.”

Participants at the
rally said Muslims should not respond to provocations. “Violence
is not the method,” one of their slogans said.

The crowd gathered near
the "The Heart of Chechnya," one of the biggest mosques in
Russia.

The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, told the crowd
that Islam was a region of peace and Russian Muslims won’t let
use them to destabilize the situation in the country.

“We are announcing to the whole world that Muslims won’t let
use them to destabilize the situation in the country. We have
always been reliable protectors of Russia. And now [we] are
capable of giving a fitting rebuff to any enemy of our
Homeland.”

According to Chechen leader, Islam teaches people “to live in
peace and harmony with all the nations of our country, with
people of various religious beliefs.”

Europe hasn’t drawn any conclusions from the recent events in
Paris which left 17 people dead, Kadyrov said.

“We see that European journalists and politicians under false
slogans about freedom of speech and democracy declared the
freedom of boorishness, and uncivilly insult religious feelings.
About what freedom of speech are they [speaking] in Paris and
other Western capitals?”

The head of Russia’s
Mufti Council, Ravil Gaynutdin, said that Western countries are
abandoning family and spiritual values.

Grozny is not the first Russian city to protest against the
publication of Mohammed cartoons.

More than 10,000 people rallied in Magas, the capital of the
Russian southern republic of Ingushetia, to support Islam and
protest cartoons insulting the Prophet. The demonstrators decried
both the extremists aiming to hijack it for their own goals and
the people deliberately insulting Muslims and their faith under a
guise of protecting freedom of speech from the extremists.

Charlie Hebdo's post-attack edition, featuring the Prophet
Mohammed shedding a tear while holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign,
was published on Wednesday. The newspaper initially expected 1
million copies to be sold, but now the issue is aiming at a
target of 7 million copies, a far cry from its usual 60,000
circulation.

The issue immediately sparked outrage from Muslims and Islamist
groups. Last week, rallies were held in many countries, including
Algeria, Syria, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Niger, a former French colony, saw the most violent demonstrations. Five people were killed and 128 were
wounded over the weekend in Niamey, the capital of Niger, police
said. In total 45 churches, a Christian school and orphanage were
torched, and five hotels and 36 liquor stores were destroyed.